PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - CHIHIRO OHYE AU - RÉMI BOUCHARD AU - RENÉ BOUCHER AU - LOUIS J. POIRIER TI - SPONTANEOUS ACTIVITY OF THE PUTAMEN AFTER CHRONIC INTERRUPTION OF THE DOPAMINERGIC PATHWAY: EFFECT OF <span class="sc">l</span>-DOPA DP - 1970 Dec 01 TA - Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics PG - 700--708 VI - 175 IP - 3 4099 - http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/175/3/700.short 4100 - http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/175/3/700.full SO - J Pharmacol Exp Ther1970 Dec 01; 175 AB - The spontaneous activily of the putamen and related structures was studied on both sides of the brain in cats with chronic unilateral lesions interrupting the corresponding nigrostriatal pathway at the level of the upper midbrain or in the area of the medial forebrain bundle. The frequency of the spontaneous activity recorded in these animals after high cervical cord transection was greater in the putamen deprived of its incoming nigrostriatal fibers than in the putamen of the intact side or in the putamen of the normal cat. Under such conditions l-dopa increased the spontaneous activity in the putamen on the side with the lesion but not in the putamen of the intact side. These results suggest that in the absence of nigrostriatal endings in the putamen, where the conversion of l-dopa to dopamine is greatly impaired, the partially denervated putaminal cells are abnormally activated by l-dopa. These findings may have some implication in the treatment of parkinsonism by l-dopa. © 1970 by The Williams &amp; Wilkins Co.